Fallon, owned by Diane Jurgens, swims after a dog toy in the pool at the Canine & Conditioning Rehabilitation Group in Broomfield on Thursday. The rehabilitation facility provides life jackets to dogs that haven't swum before or to dogs of a breed -- like bulldogs -- not known for their buoyancy.
(
David R. Jennings
)

BROOMFIELD -- Mastering the doggy paddle may not be good enough to keep Rufus afloat at the doggy daycare pool for long.

How does fitting your water-wary Weimaraner with a state-mandated Fido float coat sound?

Compulsory canine life jackets at pool-equipped daycare and boarding facilities across the state could become reality if rules being drafted by the Pet Animal Care Facilities Program, a division of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, come to pass.

For James Bertini, who has run doggy daycare facility Earthdog Denver for the last decade, the proposed rules go too far. A number of Bertini's customers come from Boulder County, where pet daycare is generally a swim-free experience.

"We have a park with a pool in it, and that means every dog that walks in our park would have to have a life jacket on," he said. "This is extreme overreach with this proposed rule."

The draft rules state that "every dog must wear a personal flotation device while in or while having access to a pool area whenever the pool water is deeper than the height of the dog at its shoulder." They also stipulate that the pool must have at least one lifeguard on duty to watch over the bedraggled barkers.

"That will require additional cost and time," he said. "It will drive up everyone's costs and make their operations more cumbersome."

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Kate Anderson, program manager for the Pet Animal Care Facilities Program, said the rules are still in an early draft and that nothing will become final until there has been public input and a public hearing.

She said there has already been talk of eliminating the requirement that both life jackets and a lifeguard be required and making it an either/or proposition. The rule-making process could take up to a year.

Anderson said it's a discussion worth having because there have been documented cases of dogs drowning at daycare facilities in Colorado. As part of the proposed rules, she said, the state also wants to address sanitation at daycare and boarding facilities. One requirement would stipulate that the bottom of the pool be "clearly visible" through the water.

"Our ultimate goal is to protect the animals in these facilities," she said. "Not every dog is a good swimmer."

Lori Beuerle, owner of Canine & Conditioning Rehabilitation Group in Broomfield, generally agrees with the rules even though they likely wouldn't apply to her facility because she doesn't board animals or care for them in their owners' absence.

Her pet rehabilitation facility just south of the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport has a large indoor pool where people can bring their dogs for a recreational swim. She said the company provides life jackets to dogs that haven't swum before or to dogs of a breed -- like bulldogs -- not known for their buoyancy.

"We make sure that every dog is comfortable with the water and knows how to swim before they are in here on their own," Beuerle said. "I've got Labs that won't swim and Dachshunds that will -- it all depends on the dog."

She said her pool is always monitored, either by a member of her staff or by the dog's owner.

"We're always supervised here," Beuerle said.

Bertini said the same is true of Earthdog Denver, but he said mandatory life jackets -- and a lifeguard beyond the already-requisite dog handler -- are simply over the top.

"Dogs are better swimmers than we are, and we don't have rules that require humans to have life jackets," he said.

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